


Stars in Our Eyes

by Carmenlire



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, M/M, Near Future, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, soft boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 06:35:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14971169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmenlire/pseuds/Carmenlire
Summary: Huh. His door is standing open but there’s no one in his office.He’s about to stand up and close the door when he hears a giggle. Alec smiles, and leans back in his seat waiting for--Ah, there it is.A pair of big blue eyes are peeking around the corner of his desk. Alec makes a show of focusing on the inventory spreadsheet in front of him. He silently starts counting to five in his head. He barely makes it to three before an enthusiastic body launches itself at him.Alec has help with his Head of the Institute duties.





	Stars in Our Eyes

Alec’s elbow deep in paperwork when he hears his door swing open. He sighs to himself.

 _Damn_.

He still had at least three hours of administrative duties to complete before he could call it a day and he really didn’t need Jace or Izzy or any of the other hundred shadowhunters under him to interrupt.

When he doesn’t hear anything-- not a boot scuffle, cough, or hesitant question-- he looks up.

Huh.

His door is standing open but there’s no one in his office.

He’s about to stand up and close the door when he hears a giggle. Alec smiles, and leans back in his seat waiting for--

Ah, there it is.

A pair of big blue eyes are peeking around the corner of his desk. Alec makes a show of focusing on the inventory spreadsheet in front of him. He silently starts counting to five in his head. He barely makes it to three before an enthusiastic body launches itself at him.

Alec makes sure to be as dramatic as possible when he jolts in surprise, widens his eyes comically and shouts theatrically.

He’s rewarded with another one of those adorable laughs.

He looks down and heaves a sigh of relief, meeting the three year old’s triumphant face.

“Elise,” he says mock-sternly. “You surprised me!”

Elise laughs and hangs onto the arm of his chair almost to sitting before springing back up and leaning into him.

“That’s because I’m the best shadowhunter ever, Mr. Lightwood. Duh!”

Alec huffs out a laugh. “Duh, indeed. What was I thinking? I’m definitely no match for you.” 

He relaxes back into his chair, hands hovering over Elise’s back as she climbs up his leg and into his lap, making sure she doesn’t fall. Once she settles, she leans her head against his chest and looks up at him.

“Hi, Mr. Lightwood.”

Alec smiles. “Good afternoon, Elise. What brings you to my office today?”

Elise hums before adopting a serious expression. “I have to help you with your papers. I just woke up from my nap and you need my help.”

Alec nods his head, sagely. “Of course. This Institute would crumble to pieces without you.”

Alec sits up and rolls his chair closer to his desk. He moves his paperwork over to the right and places a few blank sheets of paper to the left at the edge, close to Elise. He reaches into a drawer and pulls out a pack of crayons. He hands the box over and she carefully takes out half of the crayons, lining them up by her paper.

The next hour is spent in silence as Elise works on her drawing and Alec goes over next month’s budget. Elise is humming along to a song that Alec only vaguely recalls-- it might be from Beauty and the Beast but he could be completely wrong.

Emailing the final copy of the budget to the Clave’s accounting department, Alec is just pressing send when Elise claps excitedly a few times.

“Do you like it, Mr. Lightwood?”

Alec looks down at a few indistinct blobs hovering over wavy green lines. 

He couldn’t say what the picture was to save his life.

He hums, thoughtfully, a few times and makes a show of examining the drawing. After a moment, he looks at Elise.

“I love it, sweetheart. It looks like you put a lot of hard work into it. Very pretty.”

Elise beams and looks down at the paper. Alec sweats for a moment but Elise doesn’t ask any other questions, just sits back and admires her art for a few minutes.

Eventually, she turns a little so that her legs are hanging between Alec's and she leans sideways against his stomach. She wraps an arm around his waist and melts against him. It’s just a minute or two later that he hears soft snores and sees Elise curled up on his lap, thumb in her mouth, sleeping away.

Alec smiles a little and spend the next couple of hours catching up on his paperwork and correspondence-- being Head of the Institute is hard work and he dedicates several hours a day to just keeping up with the mountain of paperwork and emails that come his way.

He’s careful not to move too much in fear of waking Elise up. She’s only three but she’s smart as a whip. She’s no doubt caused her governess no end of trouble during the morning and needs to recuperate.

Alec’s head is bent low, his signature getting increasingly illegible, as he looks over this week’s patrol reports. The light is beginning to wane and it must be a little before five-- it gets dark so early in winter. There’s no sound, but he looks up regardless and immediately lights up as he sees his boyfriend leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, soft smile on his face. He has no idea how long Magnus has been standing there, but by the way he’s relaxed against the open door, feet crossed at the ankles, means it must have been at least a little while.

“Hey,” Alec says softly. “What are you doing here?”

Magnus uncrosses his ankles and ambles over until he’s standing just in front of the desk. He keeps his voice just above a whisper as he replies.

“My last client didn’t take as long as I thought, so I figured I’d swing by and see if you were ready to head to dinner.”

At that moment, Alec’s stomach growls, an indication that he hasn’t eaten since this morning, when he’d stopped at a coffee shop on his way to the Institute.

Magnus shakes his head, chastising him silently. He’s just opened his mouth, to no doubt verbally rebuke Alec, when Elise starts to wake up.

Alec looks down and his heart clenches a little. Elise is rubbing her eyes with her little fist and looks adorably pouty.

“Good evening, sleeping beauty.”

Elise burrows deeper into him and Alec brings an arm up and rubs her back, keeping her from falling back to sleep. She’s already had two naps today-- he doesn’t envy the governess who has to enforce her bed time in a few short hours.

Magnus and Alec have a silent conversation while Elise is waking up. There’s wiggling eyebrows and exaggerated grimaces and dramatic expressions as they decide what to do for the rest of the night.

Magnus muffles a laugh at Alec’s affronted expression at the suggestion of Thai food and Elise’s eyes pop open at the sound.

She turns and sees Magnus and shoots up to a sitting position.

“Who are you,” she demands.

Magnus raises a brow but answers loftily, “Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn. And who might you be?”

Elise looks up at Alec with wide eyes but turns back to Magnus hastily. “My name is Elise and I’m the best shadowhunter here.” She doesn’t even take a second to gloat before asking, “What’s a warlock?”

Magnus pauses a moment, considering, before he deliberately blinks and allows the glamour to fall from his eyes. Elise gasps in shocked delight and scrambles up until she’s standing in Alec’s lap, leaning over the desk and setting gentle fingers under Magnus’s eyes.

“Woah,” she says. “So pretty.”

Magnus stills for a moment before a genuine smile touches his mouth. “Thank you, dear. Your eyes are very beautiful, too.”

Elise falls back down until she’s sitting in Alec’s lap again, trusting Alec to keep her steady. She looks at Alec, wondering. “I’ve never seen anyone with cat eyes before. How cool!”

Alec chuckles and nods. “Very cool,” he agrees.

There’s a moment of silence as Elise no doubt thinks about what she’s just seen before she looks over at Magnus.

“Why are you here?”

Magnus huffs out a breath. “If I didn’t know better, I’d be insulted with everyone asking why I’m here.” The words fly over her head but Alec just shakes his head in amusement. 

Magnus leans conspiratorially over the desk. “I’m here to visit my boyfriend.”

“Who’s your boyfriend?”

Magnus nods behind her, towards Alec. “He is, darling.”

She looks at Magnus, incredulously. “Mr. Lightwood has a boyfriend?” There’s a pause. “What’s a boyfriend?”

Alec clears his throat. “I do have a boyfriend, Elise. And a boyfriend is like a best friend you get to spend a lot of time with and kiss sometimes.”

Elise nods, seriously. “A boyfriend is like a best friend?”

Alec leans down and whispers, “The best boyfriend is hopefully someone that you consider a best friend. Magnus is definitely my best friend.”

Elise is quiet for a moment or two, allowing Alec to catch Magnus’s expression-- wide eyes, soft smile, a little shake of his head like he just can’t believe Alec.

Alec plans on spending the rest of his life proving his words.

He’s shaken out of his reverie by Elise. “What if my best friend is a girl?”

Alec sends an encouraging look. “Girls can have girlfriends, no problem. It’s whatever you decide.”

“Then, I’m going to marry my best friend Caroline!”

Alec nods gravely. “I look forward to being invited to the wedding.”

His words are lost as Elise slides down his leg, onto the floor. 

“Bye, Mr. Lightwood. I’m hungry and I need to find my nanny. I’ll come back tomorrow and help you with your paper.”

Alec smiles at her back, watching as she starts walking around his desk. Her head barely comes up to the top.

“Bye, Elise. I can’t wait-- you know I’m helpless without your help.”

He hears Magnus snort but it breaks off as Elise wraps her arms around Magnus’s legs and looks up at him.

“Bye, Magnus Bane. Is Mr. Lightwood your best friend, too?”

Magnus places a hand on top of her head, gently ruffles her hair. A smile curls on his lips as he answers.

“Yes, darling. Alexander is my best friend.”

Elise nods once, satisfied, and wanders out of the room, no doubt to face a reprimanding babysitter.

Alec’s office is quiet for a moment before Magnus walks around and settles in Alec’s lap, knees on either side. Alec’s hands go up automatically to Magnus’s hips, securing him, pulling him infinitesimally closer.

They kiss hello, something soft and lingering with just a hint of bite before Magnus pulls back.

“Who was that, love?”

Alec hums, focus mainly on the faint mark under Magnus’s jaw from last night. He replies absently. 

“Elise. Her mother is in Idris for the week at a round of meetings and wanted her to stay back with the governess.”

“She helps you with your papers?”

Alec finally focuses on the conversation, his gaze moving up from Magnus’s mouth to his eyes.

“She’s my second in command,” he says, very seriously.

Magnus raises a brow. “And what does your second in command do?”

“She helps me with my paperwork.”

“Does she now,” Magnus says, amused.

“Her techniques are foolproof. She by turns colors, sleeps, or plays with Caroline in front of the fire. I’ve never been so efficient.”

Magnus laughs. “Oh, I bet.”

Alec grins and they just look at each other for a minute.

Eventually, Alec breaks the silence.

“Have you ever wanted kids,” he asks, softly.

Magnus settles against Alec a little more, relaxing into the conversation.

“Well, as you know,” he starts slowly, weighing his words. “The downworlders I take under my wing are my family. Any longing I had for children was futile for the longest time and I fed whatever inclination I may have had with taking in those who might need my help.”

He leans forward a little, brings his arms up and wraps them around Alec’s shoulders until his hands are clasped behind his neck.

He touches his forehead against Alec’s and takes a few seconds, closing his eyes, just breathing in.

He pulls back and when his eyes open, those lovely golden eyes Alec loves so much, they’re full of everything Alec’s ever wanted to see.

“But with you,” Magnus whispers, “I think I’d enjoy making our family a little bigger. You’re wonderful with kids, Alexander, and raising children with you would be one hell of an adventure.”

Alec smiles, eyes tearing up the tiniest bit as he hears the answer he was hoping for.

He leans forward, touches their foreheads again.

“Someday,” he whispers.

Someday.

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me on tumblr @carmenlire


End file.
